Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-09-08
Home Breeding.
Practical Farmer.


We have imported into this country
many foreign-bred animals and will i'm
port maay more. But the charm that is
attached to an imported animal, or rather
that has been attached to it, is not so
powerful as 1t once was, either to the i'm
porter or to the customer. People are
more and more coming to demand merit
in stock. Pedigree will not sell an ami
NAL to an Intelligent buyer in these days.
The animal must have pronounced indi-
y1dual merit aud not sport wholly upon
the merits of its ancestors. There was
time when anything imported found
ready sale because it was an importation.
But the Importation of animals is now
very largely governed by the Yankee en-
terprIse that hunts up whatever is meri
torious anywhere in the world, and buys
it, but rejects whatever is not worthy.
American breeding has now reached the
dignity of a science. We breed in this
country as good animals as are bred in
the world, and we are learning every day.
The notion is prevalent that American
productions are just as good as foreign
productions if they are as good. In
other words, there are a great many
thousand stock buyers who prefer Amer
lean stock, everything being equal; aud
that is proper enough and commendable.
Nor does the notion antagonize at all the
Interests of importation if it is conduct
ed upon proper principle. We have
not animals enough of certain breeds at
least, bred here to supply the demand
Hence 1mportations are necessary, and if
they are composed of good animals they
ought to meet with ready sale; and right
here we are glad to say that we believe
almost every importer is careful in the
selection of his stock. Every importer
owes that much to himself, the purchasers
of stock and to the country. We have
always contended that the utmost care
should be exercised not to discourage in
experienced breeders. There never
should be any representations made to
such buyer, or to any buyer for that
matter, that will not be realized, for dis
appointment always retards the great
work of inducing the country to supplant
the scrub with better stock. man may
pay large price for an animal, and if it
comes up to the sellers representations
and is satisfactory, the buyer will never
think of the price, but will stick by the
seller forever. On the other hand, if you
give man an animal that is not what it
is represented to be, or if it is what it
is repres ented to be and is poor animal,
he will be angry at the breed and the
breeder.
Men who understand their best inter
ests are very careful about such matters
They know that carelessness in selecting
animals for importation and in breeding
does not pay, and it is very blind man
that does not realize that nnisrepresenta-
ton in business never navs
There is growing demand for home
bred cattle. Naturally that would be so,
and the number of breeders is constantly
increasing. It must naturally be expect
ed that many new beginners will make
mistakes and that their breeding will be
faulty. Yet their stock goes to supply
the stock OF pure bred animals. What is
the lesson that we would teach? That
every breeder should be close student
of his business. Master in detail. Have
definite object IN view and adopt the
legitimate means to accomplish it. In
these days when so many are engaged in
scientific breeding, and thus are produc-
ing almost the best animal that a breed
will make. it will not answer for the be-
glnner to do any haphazard breeding. It
will not do for him to grope his way
through the darkness of ignorance. He
must learn. He can learn, and he must.
People sometimes go to sale of cattle
everybody has seen them-and buy without
the slightest knowledge Of what they are
buying. They take home with them poor
animals, and breed from them, doing an
lncalculable injury to the breed and to
improved live stock breeding in general.
There are some sections in the country
where this has been done, and it Is not
an uncommon thing to have people from
those sections come into oUr office and
denounce an excellent breed as whole.
They have got their idea of the breed
from this imperfect stock to begin with,
and stock which, perhaps, has been made
worse than il originally was by subse-
quent wretched breeding.